[ back ]
Local historians look for 1865 burial site
(by Joan Demirjian - July 28, 2011)
Local historians look for 1865 burial site
By JOAN DEMIRJIAN
A mystery involving where a 7-year-old girl was buried in the Chagrin Valley many years ago intrigues those who follow local history.
Ray Henderson, formerly of Chagrin Falls and living in Troy Township, is hoping others might have information to help in his search for Sarah Minerva Bradley, a little girl who died April 25, 1865. She died of pestilence, or some type of contagious disease she contracted from the Cuyahoga River, he said.
Mr. Henderson has been searching for her burial site in Russell Township and Chagrin Falls since he learned about Sarah while researching his own family ancestry, including the Bradley family. The Bradley family has ties to Chagrin Falls. Sarah's parents, Thomas and Sophia Bradley, had just moved from Russell to Cleveland when she was infected.
Before moving to Cleveland, where he worked as a baker, Mr. Bradley had to walk nearly 20 miles one way every weekend to get back home to his family in Russell, Mr. Henderson said.
With Sarah's sickness, the family moved to Chagrin Falls, where Mr. Bradley started his own bakery. "It remained open for 67 years," Mr. Henderson said.
"He stocked his store with food from his own garden," Mr. Henderson said. Their house was on what is now Bradley Street in the village.
"Only a few Chagrin Falls pioneers have had a street named after them," Mr. Henderson said. He noted that Tom Bradley served an alcoholic beverage at his store and the Temperance ladies from Gates Mills picketed there.
When Sarah died in 1865, her parents buried her at Briar Hill Cemetery in Russell, according to a Bradley family Bible, he said. "But due to either lost or misplaced records over the years, no one knows what plot she was buried in.
"The Bradleys must have paid for a plot at that time, so she should be entitled to a place to call her own. If that can't be done, maybe she could be given a spot with her parents and relatives who are all buried in Chagrin Falls," Mr. Henderson said. It could be simply adding her name to the top of her parents' stone, he said.
Mary Mobilia, member of the Russell Historical Society, said she spent some time at the Chardon Library looking for references to Sarah Bradley.
They would like to find an obituary, but so far they have been unable to do so.
Russell does not have a lot of history on the Bradley family itself, she said. A descendant, David Bradley, has called from California because he had traced his family to Russell.
"I did find an 1852 map and found where the Bradleys lived on Russell Road, but nothing for the cemetery," Ms. Mobilia said.
Ms. Mobilia went through the old Exponent newspaper editions, but found no mention of the death of Sarah.
Jeanette Grosvenor, Geauga County historical researcher, found Sarah Bradley's name in some records, and she is supposed to be buried in Russell, but the gravesite is unknown, Ms. Mobilia said.
She belonged in Briar Hill cemetery, but the Bradley plots were sold in the mid-1850s to the Lucius Judd family, and she might have been placed with that family, she said.
A marker for Sarah could be placed in the cemetery, Ms. Mobilia said.
Pat Zalba, a member of the Chagrin Falls Historical Society, said the Bradleys were well known in the village. Mr. Bradley had a bakery where Joey's Restaurant is now at 44 North Main St., she said. It was an old wood building at the time, she said.
In those days, pestilence could have been any number of diseases, from typhoid to malaria, she said.
"I've talked to everyone, and no one knows where Sarah is at," Mr. Henderson said. He said he does not believe she is in Evergreen Cemetery.
Mr. Henderson said if he can't find Sarah's final resting place, he would like to place a marker with her parents, he said.
"Nobody knows where Sarah is buried, and I just can't abandon this," he said.
Robert Arnold, Chagrin Falls Village cemetery sexton, said a marker of bronze or granite could be added to the graves of Sarah's parents at Evergreen Cemetery.
There would be a fee, unless it is waived by the village. "It is common," Mr. Arnold said of adding markers to existing graves.
[ back ]
